The Hurt and the Healer
by TheLooneyBin
Summary: In the third BoB two contestants observe some of the strangest activities they've seen to date involving both a blue and black haired girl.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 _ **Jaegis**_

The Bullet of Bullets. Great. Real shitstorm you've gotten yourself into this time.

My eyes darted around the crowded waiting room, landing on several players. There was that black clothed chick who'd won her preliminary with a photon sword and a pistol, that green sniper girl, Yamikaze, and not to mention all the others that had made it this far. My eyes glanced over another girl, this one in a of armored medic get-up. I mentally marked down all of them. I'd be damned if I wasn't ready for every single one of them.

I looked to my right at my Kar98 and picked it up, hands moving over it, checking for any abnormalities. I tightened the suppressor on the end and made sure that the strap was on well. I narrowed my eyes at a particularly stubborn piece of fabric that refused to stay on its clip. I fiddled with it for a moment before moving on.

There was definitely an atmosphere of tenseness and apprehension. Some people paced back and forth, some stared off into space. Some, like me, checked over their opponents worriedly. I closed my eyes and forced my mind to move on to something else, to get _something_ done.

I checked my belt and bandolier, making sure everything was in order there. Twelve HE grenades… Check. Six flashbangs… check. Two smokes, two gasses… Check, and check some more. I sighed shakily, trying to clear the adrenaline from my system. My hands grazed over the combat knife on the right side of my belt. Good, it hadn't fallen off. I checked the left and back side of my belt. One, two, three, four, five, six pouches of ammunition. Good, all there.

The announcer sounded off, "The third BoB begins now!" I heard a loud beep and a blue light engulfed me, setting me in the middle of the woods.

It was quiet, very quiet. There were no shouts around me, no footsteps yet. Just some chirping from virtual birds. I let my eyes drift over my surroundings, studying every inch of the terrain. Through the trees I spotted a bridge going across a river, connecting my side to a ruinous city. I started to move towards the treeline near it, but then I hear a twig snap. I whirled on my heels and leveled my Kar98, sights locking onto the area that the sound came from.

For a moment, there was no sound. Even the birds had stopped chirping. This was a bit early for an attack but I guess some people were going to be rushers, going for a quick and easy kill.

A few rounds streaked past my head and prediction lines started appearing all over me. I dove behind a tree before several more bullets spat through the air where I had been. I peeked out from behind the trunk, and several rounds struck next to my face. My health meter dropped a little. Not much, but enough to make me shoot back behind my cover. My eyes drifted down to my grenades, and I ran through them. HE? No, too loud. Smoke? No, too… expectable. Gas? No, should probably save those. Flash?

Screw it, why not.

I snatched one off my bandolier and primed it. I counted to two and then released the pin and hurled it towards where the fire had came from. A loud bang sounded, and I heard curses from my left. I spun out from behind my cover and raised my rifle. My sights found my attackers large cowboy hat and put a hole in it. I watched his form shimmer before exploding into thousands of red shards.

I lowered my Kar98 and smiled under my bandana. Simple enough.

I lay down on my stomach and started to crawl for the treeline. No such thing as being too cautious, right?

\- 10 minutes of crawling later-

I finally reached my destination and shimmied under a bush. I sighed and whispered to myself, "Never being that cautious again…"

Shots rang out at the bridge and I sighted in, looking for their origin. There, on the other side of the bridge was a man with an assault rifle, trying to shoot what was nothing more than a white blur against the bridge. The blur swiftly dodged all the bullets the man could fire, swinging from the different columns and pylons that held the bridge together. The man rose from his crouched position and reloaded, intent on keeping up the fire, but the pale blur had other plans. A shot rang out, and it connected with the man. He stumbled backwards and raised his gun to fire again, but the blur already had his gun to his head. They stood there for a quiet moment, and then the pale one fired, and the man dropped to the floor before a marker appeared above his body, confirming that he was dead.

With my eyes wide I silently congratulated the surviving one's feat… of stepping right into my crosshairs. I began to squeeze the trigger, but a sudden blue spark stuck him in the chest, and he dropped to the ground.

"What the…" I listened for a shot, but no sound came from the bridge, and I felt my gut tighten in apprehension.

Then, a man in a dark cloak stepped out from behind a pylon and shouldered a silenced sniper rifle. He stalked up to the one on the ground and raised a pistol. He began to draw some sort of cross across his chest. I saw the pixels of the pistol's hammer moving back when a sound so loud it made my ears ring rebounded across the river. After I got over the ringing I looked back down my sights and saw a crater formed by a Hecate round, an anti material sniper rifle. The man in the cloak had just side stepped it. He looked up to where the shot came from and then turned back to the white clad player. He fired once and his health dropped a fraction. Then the pale one spun upwards and raised his gun, putting the barrel to the cloaked man's head. I waited for the shot, but the one clad in white just dropped his gun and clutched his heart. He writhed on the ground for a moment before stopping and disconnecting. I took my finger off the trigger as fear's iron grip closed around my heart.

"Nope, not doing it."

I stayed in my position for a moment and watched the one in the cloak, too afraid to move. After I was sure no one saw me, I rushed backwards, away from my position. I stepped out of the bushes and ran down the side of the river. If there was one bridge, surely there was another. I ran for a solid ten minutes, unable to find another crossing.

"This is going to be fucking cold…" I whispered as I removed my gear and put it in storage.

I backed up and took off, diving into the icy waters of the river. I rose out of the water on the other side of the bridge and equipped my clothing. I shivered. Mental note: Don't do that again either. Right before I could equip my rifle though, I heard gunshots. And gunshots meant people. Dead people, in particular.

I moved into the rubble of a building and took the round about way to the firefight, and came up behind the shooter. A man clad in urban camo was firing at stone a column, the barrel of a gun visible at about knee height. I snuck up behind the man firing the light machine gun before provoking him.

"Good morning motherf-" I brought my knife down towards him but his hand grabbed my wrist, cutting me off mid sentence and trying to twist the knife away. I rolled him onto the ground with me as we wrestled for dominance. I finally gave up on the ground war and stood up, trying to regroup. He pulled his machine gun back up from where it was harnessed and it finally clicked that he'd had it on his waist. I tried to dodge the most serious of the bullet lines but I was struck in the arms, legs and stomach pretty badly. I was at 10% health and bleeding. I couldn't bleed to death but it could make it to where a sneeze in the wrong direction could drop me dead.

I was about to peek around and take a popshot when the original person he was engaging ended him in nothing more than three well placed shots. I spun on my back to point the barrel of my gun into the face of a girl, a very small girl might I add. The barrel of my gun nearly touched her face. Surely she was going to kill me, my health having drained down to 1%. I was preparing to fire when a wall of solid steel covered her face and her rifle pointed backwards, her outstretched hand coming up in that of the universal friendly signal. I kept my gun in her face, refusing to give way. That is until she bent down and shoved a needle into my leg, sending a feeling rushing over me of exhilaration as my health shot upwards. If a single syringe could do that much, her specs for medicine must have been through the roof. I shot upwards but couldn't keep my gun held to her, not after what she'd done for me. I offered my hand and she took it, coming to a full heighted stance, though that wasn't much to speak of itself.

"Taoreta," she said, her helmet's steel plating sliding upwards and into the top panel, revealing her smiling face.

No. No teaming up. Just say thanks, and leave. I simply shook her hand. "Jaegis."

"So, where are we going?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 _ **Taoreta**_

What am I doing here? I don't belong out here with all of these professional players, why did I even sign up?

I slumped into a chair by myself placing my head in my hands before coming to my senses. I looked around the room and caught the eye of several players, competitors. I came eye to eye with one man in particular who trapped me in his gaze, there was a certain aura about him, dark, terrifying. I shuddered and broke from his gaze and saw two of the top players of late sitting together, if they teamed up then there'd be an issue. Kiriko and Sinon, the two largest threats on the field, right up there with Yamikaze.

I breathed in and closed my eyes before running over my equipment for the third time. Medical supplies, check. M1 Carbine, check. M1911, check. Ammo, check. All was well in my equipment. I flipped down the blast resistant visor on my helmet and then retracted it again, it was working fine. I shook my head and sighed, at least I had a bit of time to th- "The third BoB begins now!"

Well shit. A blue flash of light and I appeared in the desert. Great, my least favorite weather, heat. I immediately geared myself in the direction of the city. There shouldn't be any players near me just yet. I set a nice pace for myself, gun in hand and meds at the ready, just in case.

-Minutes Later-

I broke the edge of the city limits and took a deep breath, taking to the side of the road. I could hear distant gunshots, barely a crack through the air once they'd reached my ears. I was nearing the center of the city when I heard what was akin more to an explosion than a gunshot. I nearly jumped out of my skin, fumbling my carbine in my hands before listening for the direction in which the crack was resonating. I heard the reverberations from the bullet and nearly decided to not take action, but I couldn't help myself from looking. Whatever had made that humongous pounding must have been an impressive piece.

I decided to head towards the sound, planting foot after foot towards the forested area of the map. Far in the distance was the bridge that connected the two environments. It was at least a good 1000 metres away, no good with my carbine. I blew a strand of hair from my face and kept jogging, after what seemed an eternity I was… 500 metres away. Great.

A red line came across my field of view and I leaned back, the bullet whizzing directly past my nose. I looked to my left and back stepped behind a column, clutching my rifle to my chest as bullets broke pieces of stone off all around me. I sunk down to a near seated position and closed my eyes, waiting for the click of a magazine drop, the bullets just never seemed to end.

There appeared to be a voice in the background, and suddenly the shots stopped coming. I peaked around my little tree and spotted two figures wrestling on the pavement. One dressed in all black, except for a red bandana drawn across his face, and the other in some sort of urban camouflage. The one in black drew a knife and brought it down at the camoed one's neck. The man in camouflage kicked his attacker off him, swiped up his assault rifle and unloaded into the black clad man's direction. The shadow dodged and serpentined through the hail storm but was hit several times, and I could see his health bar dropping lower and lower.

I gritted my teeth and clutched my rifle tighter, spinning around the column and leveling my rifle at the man in camo. I sent several rounds his way, one striking him in the shoulder, then the chest, and finally, right in between his eyes. The man fell and shattered into a clump of red crystals as a sign appeared to confirm my kill. I looked down to the one that was left and stared down the barrel of a long outdated weapon, as old as mine, the Karabiner 98k.

I see his eyes dart to his health bar and then back to me. He was clearly wondering if his Kar98 had enough power to one shot me. I glance to his health bar as well, and notice that he had nearly one percent left. I activated the blast shield of my helmet and raised one hand to him, open palmed and outstretched, aiming my rifle behind me. He looked at me curiously as I kneeled and pulled out a syringe, stabbing it into his leg and pushing the plunger. His health shot upwards, 92 percent. It wasn't full but good enough.

The barrel lowered out of my face and he stood up, towering nearly 8 inches over me. He offered his hand to me and I took it. He'd saved me, I'd saved him, he seemed trustworthy enough. I let him pull me to my feet with the hand that enveloped mine entirely.

"Taoreta." I said, retracting my blast shield and smiling at him.

"Jaegis." He responded, and something told me I should remember his name though nothing came. His eyes seemed oddly… distant. And he didn't remove his bandana.

I continued to smile as I dropped my hand, placing it back on the side of my gun, "So, where we headed?"

"We?"

I felt my mind click the pieces into place and I felt a bit of crippling social anxiety, just a touch, "I-I'm sorry, just uh, assumed you'd wanna stick together." I stuttered out, my now forced smile faltering a bit.

I could see the battle raging behind his eyes. He looked down at me, and then back to the city, and then to the woods, and then back to me. He sighed audibly. "Fine, follow me… And stay close, last thing I need is a noob lagging behind me."

I seethed inside at the insult but he seemed nice...enough...I guess?

"Great! Did you hear that really loud shot earlier? I was coming towards it and then well, you know the rest."

"Yeah, I _saw_ it."

"Really? What was it? Anti material rifle?"

"Yup."

"Wow, someone's really packing."

He scoffed, "Yeah? No kidding."

He began walking in the direction I'd come from, and I followed right behind him. Not too long afterward we were reaching the center of the city, everything was familiar now, so I knew we were a good trek away from the desert.

All of the weight bearing down on my back, especially for a girl my size, was beginning to tire me out.

"Hey, can we uh, take a break right here?"

He sighed, "Didn't I tell you I didn't need a noob dragging me down?"

"No, you technically told me not to lag behind, and I'm not if we both stop, so can we _please_ rest for a minute."

He ran a hand over his face and finally, after another aggravated exhale, nodded. I sat immediately, gracious for the break on my legs. All of my equipment was too heavy for a character of my stats, but I carried it anyway, great decision right?

I saw him wander around the rubble, glancing into every nook and cranny, checking for… something, anything.

"So why an M1 Carbine?" He asked without even looking at me.

"Huh?"

"Your gun, the M1 Carbine, why'd you pick it."

I snapped to my senses, "Oh, ah, it's lightweight, nice fire rate, it's not a bad gun… Is it?"

He shook his head, and dragged a broken piece of table in front of our little alcove. "Not particularly. Just not many people use it. I heard it practically got neutered a few patches ago…"

"It did, but it doesn't look like it mattered much to that guy back in the forest as to how many patches it had now did it?" I said, almost in defense of my gun.

For a second I thought I saw the ghost of a smile dance in his eyes, but whatever it was it didn't last long. "Nope, guess not."

He sat down with his back to a concrete wall, resting as well. He popped his virtual neck and stretched before looking back to me and then beyond the walls of our little hovel. Again, he gained that distant look, as if he wasn't truly there, but had retreated back into the deepest recesses of his mind.

We sat in deafening silence for what seemed like an eternity, I waiting for my legs and lungs alike to quit burning, and Jaegis...well I don't really know what he was doing. He suddenly sighed so loud I nearly jumped out of my skin, again. He looked at me, reached up to his bandana and pulled it down, revealing his angular features. His face was deadpan as he spoke.

"Ok… so here's the plan."

I stared intently at him, listening to whatever I was supposed to be doing in all of this.

"There are four people in the game right now who we _really_ want to avoid. Kiriko, Sinon, Yamikaze, and a cloaked guy with red eyes. They are way too serious for either of us to handle. So what we are going to do is shadow them, as to make sure they don't start shadowing us. You following me?"

"Well I'm going to have to follow you if I'm a part of the plan right?"

He rolled his silver eyes at me before continuing, "Anyways, I don't plan on engaging them until I am absolutely sure that we can take them."

"I definitely like that idea. But what about Sinon and Kiriko? Sinon's a sniper and Kiriko can block our bullets."

Jaegis just smirked and shrugged at me. "She can't block an explosion, and there is such a thing as Counter-Snipers."

I shuddered at the mention of explosives, chuckling nervously, "That's not to say we're going to _use_ explosives right?"

He raises his eyebrow at me, "Well, that's kind of how you make something explode…"

"Well we aren't making anything explode of course. Right Jaegis?" I chuckled nervously again, subconsciously clutching my gun a bit tighter to my chest.

He gave me a once over, examining me with squinted eyes. "You're not… scared of explosions are you?"

"Of course not!" I said a bit too quickly, "Uuhhh… Wouldn't it just be easier to catch her off guard with a bullet from that?" I pointed to his sniper.

He looked down at his feet. "Wish I could, but that chick cut a Hecate round in half at 10 metres during the preliminaries. But I'm pretty sure if I tossed a few HE grenades at her she'd go down easily enough…"

I choked up a bit, making a mewling sound as I realized he was right. I bit my lower lip and looked back up at him and clutched the gun a bit tighter, "Can you at least not use something with high explosive literally in the name…"

He looked at me for a second, and again a war broke out behind his eyes. He broke his gaze away from mine and looked out again. He gritted his teeth and bared an angry look. He closed his eyes and let out a shaky breath. He looked back at me and gave a gentle smile.

"Okay, scaredy cat..." He ruffled my hair, "I won't use explosives. For your sake."

He went red as soon he realized what he had said. "I mean, I can't have my teammate freezing up on me, can I?"

As soon as his hand made contact with my head I loosened a bit, lower lip separating from my top. I hardly registered anything he said afterward, almost missed it when he removed the shattered wood and stepped out. I placed a hand to my head and went beet red.

"Hey?" he said.

"Oh, huh?"

"Are we going or not, we've rested long enough."

I scrambled to grab my gear and scuttled out from under the rubble standing and thumbing over my weapon's safety as I fell in behind him. I let out a shaky breath and swallowed, looking at his back. Did he even notice what he had done to me with just a simple touch?

Hell did I even know?


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 _ **Jaegis**_

"Nope, guess not."

I plopped down across from her, and looked out from our little hidey hole. My eyes scanned for movement and I drifted into my thoughts. Is this really all that smart? I stole a glance at her when she wasn't looking. I mean, I just met her. What if she healed me just so I'd let my guard down? It'd probably be safer just to put a round between her eyes and move on. The longer we sit here, the more likely we are to be found. What if she is grouped with someone and they are on their way? That would fucking suck if I stepped outside.

I glanced at her again, barely able to be discreet with her staring me down. Something in me broke, I don't know what it was, or why, but something _broke_. I let go of a heavy breath and prepared the most deadpan look I could muster. I pulled off my red bandana and the walls between me and her dropped.

"Okay, so here's the plan."

I could tell she was listening intently, so I continued.

"There are four people in the game right now who we _really_ want to avoid. Kiriko, Sinon, Yamikaze, and Sturben. They are way too serious for either of us to handle. So what we are going to do is shadow them, as to make sure they don't start shadowing us. You following me?"

She looked at me not comprehending, "Well I'm going to have to follow you if I'm a part of the plan right?"

For a split second, I couldn't tell if she was serious or not, but I gave up and just rolled my eyes. "Anyways, I don't plan on engaging them until I am absolutely sure that we can take them."

"I definitely like that idea. But what about Sinon and Kiriko? Sinon's a sniper and Kiriko can block our bullets."

I thought for a second and then gave Taoreta a wolfish smirk. "She can't block an explosion, and there is such a thing as Counter-Snipers."

She gave a little laugh, and I thought I heard nervousness in there too. "That's not to say we're going to _use_ explosives right?"

I raised my eyebrow curiously. The fuck does she mean? "Well, that's kind of how you make something explode…"

"Well we aren't making anything explode of course. Right Jaegis?" Same tone, and there was that laugh again.

I mentally inspected her, eyes roamed over her heavily armored figure. I squinted at her. "You're not… scared of explosions are you?"

"Of course not!" She responded, a bit too quickly, "Uuhhh… Wouldn't it just be easier to catch her off guard with a bullet from that?" She pointed to my Kar98.

I looked down, butterflies dancing around in my stomach. "Wish I could, but that chick cut a Hecate round in half at 10 metres during the preliminaries. But I'm pretty sure if I tossed a few HE grenades at her she'd go down easily enough…"

Tao appeared to tense up, and made some sort of high pitched, dying-on-the-inside noise. Her grip on her M1 had tightened, and she bit her lip. "Can you at least not use something with high explosive literally in the name…"

I stared at her, dumbfounded, unable to truly understand her. I stopped looking at her for a moment. Fuck. I really should put a bullet in her. She's ruining my only chance to bring that Kiriko chick down.

But could I really help it?

The question shocked me at first, but the more I thought about it, the more I agreed. The likelihood of something so simple working against a player like Kiriko was nearly ludicrous. Fuck it. Might as well work with it. I sigh again. I turned my head back to Taoreta and gave her the kindest smile I could create.

"Okay, scaredy cat…" I reached out and messed up her hair, "I won't use explosives. For your sake."

A mental block stopped me in my tracks as I realized what I had said. "Um- I mean, I can't have my teammate freezing up on me, can I?"

I quickly stood up and moved to get the shattered table out of our way, anything to get me away from her at the moment. I shouldered my rifle and turned back to her. She still hadn't gotten her stuff together. "Hey?" I said, wondering if she was alright.

"Oh, huh?"

"Are we going or not, we've rested long enough."

She began a scramble to gather up her things and stumbled out from under the ruined building before falling in behind me. I heard her let out a ragged breath behind me, and felt her eyes burning a hole in my back. I couldn't believe I'd just said that, even though it was almost as if she hadn't heard it.

We moved along down the empty, rubble filled street, watching for any movement whatsoever. A rock rolled down the caved in side of a building and I dropped into a kneeling position and raised my rifle, and waited. Tao's humming stopped and I heard her safety flick off. We waited there for a moment, and nothing happened. I stood slowly and waved her along. We set off again, but she didn't keep humming. I glance back over my shoulder.

"Why'd you stop?"

Tao looked at me like I was insane. "Stop what?"

"Your humming. It was… nice."

She took a moment to realize what I was saying and made a "Oh" with her mouth. She seemed to think for a second before starting up again, this one with a different melody. The swaying sounds and subtle changes in pace and notes could almost put me asleep while I was walking. I shook my head, clearing it of its tiredness. Well, it had been two days in real life since I had slept… Had to expect some backlash.

"You alright?" Came the tiny voice of Tao from behind me.

I chuckled and nodded, "Yeah, just a bit tired."

"But we just rested ten minutes ago."

I smirked, "Not in game, IRL. Haven't slept in two days…"

She gasped, "You've got to sleep ya know! We are still human."

I shrugged and yawned involuntarily, "Exactly why I didn't sleep. Had to prep for this." I wave my hand to the surrounding area.

"How does that help you exactly?"

"Closure." I responded, leaving the conversation at that. I didn't want to talk about my insomnia, or my apprehension upon entering this thing. I spotted the stadium over the buildings and pointed to it. I looked behind me to make sure Tao was following my finger.

"That's where we're headed. From there we can get a great view of everything."

"Ok, but what are we looking for?"

I gave her a half laugh before turning to her with a smirk plastered across my face, "Sinon, Kiriko, Yamikaze, and Mr. Cloak, of course."

"Oh...Right."

As we weaved through the city blocks, all was quiet, a bit too quiet if you ask me. Oh man, I'd always wanted a reason to say that. I took a deep breath and pulled back the bolt to make sure I'd bolted a round into the chamber. Satisfied, I clicked it back into place.

"So, what's your story anyw-"

A red streak across my view cut me short as I dove to the ground, pulling Tao with me. Bullets whizzed overhead as we were lucky enough to be able to roll behind the safety of some rubble. There was a building to our the left of where the bullets were coming from, we could use that as a vantage point if I could just-

 _PING_

My head snapped to my left, where Tao had rolled moments earlier, reaching onto her back and a thick wall of metal folding out, covering her figure. She'd positioned herself in front of me as bullets began to rain down from the building I'd spotted moments ago.

My mind went to my stealth and I pressed down on the button on my thigh, vanishing completely. I moved silently out from the cover, making my way towards the building that Tao's shield was facing. I was moving across the road when I heard Tao's voice.

"Jaegis!?" She cried out.

I felt a pang of grief strike my chest, realizing she'd probably thought I'd abandoned her. I would apologize later but for now I slipped in under the ambusher's perch and climbed the stairs. I drew a knife. This time, I wouldn't speak. I stalked up behind our attacker and wrapped my arm around his neck, locking him in a jujutsu style choke hold. I slammed my knife into the side of his head, and was rewarded with his health bar immediately hitting zero. I pushed his body to the side and pulled my Kar98 off my shoulder. I looked down the scope and found the other dead man who had fired at us. I placed my sight on the muzzle flash of his weapon before easing the sight a little higher.

My silencer reverberated with the forcibly silenced gasses coming from my gun, the bullet leaving the barrel smooth as ever, the recoil against my shoulder a near welcome crystals erupted from the area that I had fired at, and the firing stopped. I waited a moment to make sure that he was dead, and not just bluffing. A little red sign appeared above him a moment later. Heh. Got him.

I stood up and moved towards the stairs, taking off down the flight before realizing the last time Tao looked at this building it was enemy occupied, "Hey Tao! Don't shoot, it's me!"

"I've got a mind to anyways!" She shouted back, hurt evident in her voice

I faltered, unsure if she actually meant it or not. "Please don't." I said as I stepped out of the doorway.

I wasn't met with a bullet, but I'm debating on whether or not I would have preferred it as soon as the metal plating on her fist connected with my gut.

"Don't you _ever_ pull that stunt without warning me again!"

"Shit, I'm sorry. God, why are you so pissed?" I coughed a bit, standing, about to chuckle before I saw the tears threatening to crest her cheeks. "Oh, crap, um sorry… Didn't realize it'd scare you _that_ bad..."

"Don't worry about it, I just don't have a good history with shit like that m'kay?" She said, obviously marking the end of that conversation. She wiped her tears and her shield collapsed into a small square again, fitting neatly onto her back.

I felt a wave of guilt tumble over me. My gut tightened and I scratched the back of my head. I stepped up and looked down at her. "Look, Tao… We're partners, and I don't leave partners high and dry, alright? I'm not going to leave until we have kicked everyone else's ass. Got it?"

Tao gripped her now equipped rifle once more, pulling the weapon in towards her chest. She looked down and nodded a yes, her hair flopping up and down where it peeked out from the front of her helmet.

I offered her my hand for a shake. "We cool?"

She timidly took my hand and shook, nodding once more before placing her hand back on the wood of her carbine. "Yeah… yeah we're cool." She attempted to regain her almost constant smile.

"So. Onwards?"

She gave another timid nod and we walked on.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

 _ **Taoreta**_

Everything seemed fine, that was until I was thrown to the ground and dragged behind cover, bullets whizzing overhead. I could see the red bullet lines come over or around the side of the rubble every few seconds, we were effectively pinned down. I shouldered my rifle and prepared to pop up over cover. As I was racking in a round red prediction lines began to appear all over Jaegis, directed at him from the building parallel with us.

I bolted into action, reaching over my back and grabbing onto a handle that was there, snatching upwards. The square of metal began to expand in my hand as I rolled to Jaegis' side, plates of collapsible steel unfolding to create a solid wall. A small sheet of ballistic glass no larger than a ruler was left in the middle for me to see from.

The first bullet of a barrage pinged off of the metal, followed by more unsuccessful attempts on our lives. A bullet from the other side of the crossfire caught me in the side and I stumbled further back behind cover, expecting to bump into Jaegis on my way to the ground.

My back hit asphalt and wind rushed from my lungs as I nearly forgot to keep my shield up. I shoved the bottom into the ground and backed myself into a corner between the rubble and a column before screaming from my partner's name.

"Jaegis!?" I called out, expecting an answer from somewhere else, as if he'd moved from cover to cover.

No answer came. I pulled the shield closer to my body as round after round slammed into the shield, hammering my arm with its percussive retaliation against the resistance. I should have known he would ditch me as soon as things got hairy. It's what I got for trusting him. It's like he said, who wants a noob like me dragging them down? I sat there, hating myself and just waiting for a bullet to strike home. But after a moment passed, the rain of lead on my shield stopped, followed by our original attacker suddenly stopping as well. I drew my pistol in apprehension and took aim at the door of the enemy's highrise.

"Hey Tao! Don't shoot, it's me!" Jaegis called from the blackness of the doorway.

I was still shuddering, my arm shaky and the aiming circle going wild with my heartbeat. I shouted back at him exactly how I felt about the current situation, "I have a mind to anyways!"

He paused for a moment, no movement or voice coming from inside. I got up and walked towards the door, not even aware of the tears that had begun to sting the edges of my eyes whilst I'd curled up in the corner.

"Please don't." He called in an almost amused fashion.

I holstered my gun and as soon as he rounded the corner I gave him a straight jab, right into his gut. He doubled over and gagged for a moment before standing again.

"Don't you ever pull that stunt without warning me again!" I yelled at him, pointing a finger into his face accusingly.

"Shit, I'm sorry. God, why are you so pissed?" He asked.

I could've nearly ripped his head off at that, of course he didn't know why I was pissed. This was exactly the reason why I didn't like men, they never _understand._ I seethed a bit in aggravation and finally consciously felt the stinging at the same moment he saw the tears.

"Oh, crap, um sorry… Didn't realize it'd scare you _that_ bad..." His face was one of pure guilt and apology, which was something even I could respect.

"Don't worry about it, I just don't have a good history with shit like that m'kay?" I said, wiping tears from the corners of my eyes. I didn't like to cry, especially not in front of people, but people can't just up and leave me like that, he had to have understood at least that much, right? I snapped the shield downwards, hitting a button in the handle as it collapsed into a square again. I reached over my head and fitted it to a slot on my back.

He stepped a step closer, nearly touching me to where my face would be buried in his chest, "Look, Tao… We're partners, and I don't leave partners high and dry, alright? I'm not going to leave until we have kicked everyone else's ass. Got it?"

I felt heat rise to my cheeks. I mean, I guess we _were_ partners, so I should've have trusted him a bit more. I habitually pulled the wooden stock of the carbine closer to my chest and gave a nod, allowing some of my hair to fall into my face to cover my eyes.

He offered a hand, "We cool?"

I took his hand and shook it once, letting it fall to my side again before nodding, "Yeah… yeah we're cool."

I forced a smile onto my face before he could speak again, "So, Onwards?"

I looked up at him and grinned, his face mirroring my own. He began walking and I fell in line with him again, humming the tune to an old, nearly forgotten song, just like our guns. I didn't remember the name, only the tune that my mother used to sing to me. I hummed it and swayed back and forth on our walk to the stadium, and before we knew it, we had made it.

Jaegis turned to me and spoke, almost at a whisper, "We are going to go to the top of one of these neighboring buildings. I have a feeling someone is already in the stadium…

"Sounds like a plan." I said, scanning the nearby buildings for one that suited our purposes nicely.

I spotted a tall building on the south side of the stadium, the side that was missing the lights so we could see inside. I shook Jaegis' arm and pointed, receiving a nod. We both took off towards it, busting inside and up the stairs, all the way to the top. I opened the door outwards, Colt in hand sweeping the roof. As soon as I'd confirmed no one else was sharing the space with us, we laid down on the north west side facing corner of the building, overlooking the stadium and its street.

I focused on the streets below, barely able to make out a few objects. I was suddenly jealous of Jaegis' scope. Then I saw Jaegis, out of the corner of my eye, fumbling around in his coat, feeling for something. I jumped a little when he thrusted a rangefinder into my hands.

"That should help you see… Also, at this range I'm going to need a spotter."

"Oh really, you need the noob's help now?" I teased, smirking as I raised the glass to my eye.

I noticed him shrug before he delivered a crushing blow, "Kind of hard to fuck up a rangefinder."

"Oh come on, now that's just rude." I came out of the sights, looking over at him in mock disgust.

He had a stupid smile painted across his face as he looked at me. I suddenly wanted to tear it right off his face, but I settled with a sigh before leaning back into the rangefinder lens.

I realized all too late that I had made a key error in judgement, "Uuuuhhh, Jaegis."

"How do I use this thing?" I asked with a little hint of embarrassment.

I saw him blink once before turning to me. A blank stare had replaced his smile. He just looked at me for a moment, and I was sure I could see him preparing a smart ass comment.

"Second button on the right side to power on. Range is in the top right, windage is right under it. Elevation and bullet tracking are on the top left, but you have to press the first button on the right to start them up."

I stared at him, not believing that he hadn't said something sarcast-

"And I so called it." He added with a devilish smirk.

I scoffed but didn't retort, he was right, but I hated that he was. I powered up the electronics and gauges and numbers showed across the sides of the screen. While I was fiddling with the magnification and focus features Jaegis made a callout.

"Contact."

I got the focus to work and zoomed in on the two figures that were walking the road. They stopped at the intersection and I gasped.

 _So they did team up._

It was Kiriko and Sinon, Sinon's green hair standing out against nearly everything else around her. I watched them for a moment and heard Jaegis bolt his rifle. I reached out and tapped his arm lightly, holding up one finger, signaling for him to wait. I heard him sigh, but I didn't care, if he killed one of them, then both of us were screwed.

Kiriko ran off into the stadium. This was our chance to kill one of GGO's best players! I tapped his arm furiously, doing nothing more than annoying him while I tried to tell him something he already knew.

"Range."

I was already dialed in on her figure subconsciously, so I looked at the number, "612 metres, wind speed about 2 kilometers per hour to the east."

"Understood."

I heard him let out half a breath and he seemed to mold together with his rifle. His right hand came up and adjusted something on his scope. Three clicks of a knob later, he was back in the glass. I heard just the barest of noises indicating his trigger moving back. Just before he could put the final squeeze on the trigger Sinon went down. I gasped, waiting for the death tag.

There was no red tag, but in her right arm, was a strange blue spark, and in the shadows, two glowing red eyes appeared as if from nowhere.

"Shit…" I hear Jaegis mumble before coming out of the scope and sliding down behind the railing. He grabbed my arm and pulled me down with him. His voice was barely a whisper when he spoke, "Stay down, if that bastard sees us we're fucked!"

I whispered back to him as loud as I could through gritted teeth, "Are you kidding me?! We can't leave her down there like that!"

He looked at me, a wild look of pure and utter fear. "You don't understand. That guy side stepped a fucking hecate round like it was nothing, _and_ took down that Pale Rider guy. There is no stopping that guy."

I grabbed him by his collar and pulled him to my face to show him _exactly_ how serious I was, "Listen here, do you think I thought about how many bullets that fucker had in his clip when I saved your sorry ass? No. The answer. Is _no_. Now I'm not gonna stand idly by and watch someone helpless get killed like that. It's not an honorable way to go, nor an honorable way to kill. Now either set your gun back up on that railing and shoot his ass like a big boy or give me the gun." I shoved him away and thrust my hand outwards, gesturing for the weapon.

He gained an angry look, and for a moment I thought he might snap. But then he spoke. "No one uses my fucking gun except for me, clear?" He pulled his bandana back over his face for the first time since the alcove, and I was no longer looking at Jaegis, my sarcastic friend. I was looking at something much, _much_ more sinister. And then it clicked, where I had heard his name before.

I was face to face with Jaegis, the Plague Doctor.

He sprung up, raised his rifle and took aim with so much intent to kill that I felt it radiate off him in waves. I looked back over the railing in the rangefinder, waiting to see his shot connect. Again I heard his half breath go and saw him meld with his Kar98, becoming one with his surroundings. He closed his eyes for a moment, and then reopened. He looked set. He began to squeeze on the trigger ever so slightly. Every fiber in my body knew that it would strike home.

But a shot rang out before he could squeeze off the round, I let out a small squeal of surprise as I watched the shot connect.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 _ **Jaegis**_

"Shit..." I whispered, ducking behind the lip of the building, grabbing Tao's shoulder and dragging her down with me, "Stay down, if that bastard sees us we're fucked!"

She whispered back at me, anger floating off her in waves, "Are you kidding me?! We can't leave her down there like that!"

Terror gripped my heart like never before, and I became paranoid, nearly unable to resist checking behind me. My grip tightened a little on her shoulder as I tried to get my point across. "You don't understand. That guy side stepped a fucking hecate round like it was nothing, _and_ took down that Pale Rider guy. There is no stopping that guy."

She reached up and gripped me by the collar, dragging my face into her's, her cyan eyes burned with rage, "Listen here, do you think I thought about how many bullets that fucker had in his clip when I saved your sorry ass? No. The answer. Is _no_. Now I'm not gonna stand idly by and watch someone helpless get killed like that. It's not an honorable way to go, nor an honorable way to kill. Now either set your gun back up on that railing and shoot his ass like a big boy or give me the gun." She held her hand out, as if demanding I turn over the rifle…

No, not the rifle, but _my_ Kar98.

Something about her anger with me made something spark in the back of my head, quickly roaring into a blaze. I had made it to the final 10 of BoB. I wasn't afraid of some guy dressed up in a bad Halloween costume. Hell, _I_ was supposed to be the scariest motherfucker in GGO. I was Jaegis.

Jaegis.

 _The_.

 _Fucking_.

 _Plague Doctor._

The roaring turned into an unbridled inferno, an inferno that demanded to break through. My eyes found Tao again.

"No one uses my fucking gun except for me, clear?"

I subconsciously raised my bandana back over my face, the first time since our little rest. For a moment I absentmindedly entertained the idea of fire spewing from my mouth and onto Tao. I dismissed the childish fantasy.

I spun up on my heels, raising into my firing position, my rifle stopping dead in the air- perfectly still. I was going to kill that bastard, my bullet _would_ connect. He was going to die here, and then I'd deal with Sinon. And Kiriko. And… well, maybe not Tao.

My rifle is me.

And I am my rifle.

Together we kill.

Together we live.

The mantra repeated itself in my head as my finger tugged the trigger with such delicacy I barely felt it. But before my bullet found its mark, another hit the cloaked figure. Then another.

I saw his red eyes flash to the right, and my scope followed, resting on Kiriko. I smirked wickedly at the thought of all three of them being right there, waiting to be shot… But no, I was saving Sinon from that cloaked bastard. My mind found its way again and I dragged my scope back to the guy within a second. Following my scope was a grenade thrown by who I assumed was Kiriko.

A yellow band, a smoke. And she hadn't pulled the pin. Fuck.

My crosshairs lined up on the top of the smoke and I fired, my suppressed round finding its place. Smoke immediately flew up in my vision, hiding Kiriko, Sinon, and the guy in the cloak. I raised my eye from the glass of my scope and looked to Tao, who was looking at me with something I assumed was wonder and sparse anger.

"There, I helped." I spoke, a snappy tone creeping into my voice.

She looked back with a genuine smile, half closing her eyes and cocking her head before standing up and raising the glass to her eye. She looked out into the field of smoke, looking for something. I stared intently at the her, awaiting a remark. She popped up out of the rangefinder, a silent gasp visible on her features.

"Kiriko is carrying her away." She said

"What?" I nearly couldn't believe it. She didn't try to rush Sturben but took Sinon and left.

There was no reasoning behind why she'd do that. I mean sure, they were a team, but she would have to kill her eventually anyways, so why not now, when she had taken out most of the largest threats and only a few left to go? Then my mind drifted to Tao, and I wondered if I'd really do different. I shook off my mind's wanderings, scoped in and found the two, Kiriko running as fast as she possibly could with Sinon tucked close to her chest.

I peeked over the scope and looked down at the smoke before scoping in again. A shot rang out, echoing across the arena. Sturben was firing at the two with his pistol, walking steadily towards them as if not a care in the world.

For whatever reason, this angered me. I stood to full height and shouldered the rifle, preparing to fire. I focused in on the cloaked figure. The circle around him was going wild, but I couldn't risk the chance he get away. I was preparing to pull the trigger when he turned around to face me, red eyes staring directly into my scope. His stare held me there, captivated, stuck, even as he drew the gun from his shoulder and aimed it at me I couldn't move.

He raised his own gun to his shoulder and took aim. I could almost feel the bullet line on my forehead, burning a hole straight through the skin and boring into my skull. I tried to force myself to pull the trigger but my hand wouldn't move, couldn't move. I could almost see in slow motion as the bullet left the end of its barrel, not a sound being exchanged. As the bullet neared, my vision was lessened and lessened until the scope was thrown from my eye and my view blocked. Everything sped back up as Tao was sent sprawling across the rooftop, a metallic _ping_ blasting through the air.

"Tao!"

I looked at her body, sprawled across the rooftop from me. I dashed over and slid on my knees, coming up right beside her. My mind reminded me of my discarded Kar98 left behind me at the railing, but I didn't care. I yanked my bandana off my face and glanced over her in concern. I looked at her health, and watched as drained down into the red. There was no way she could have survived that shot. I rolled her body over onto her back and looked down into her… her faceplate! The bullet was lodged in the metal, nearly having penetrated the steel.

I let out a sigh of relief before my eyes dropped to her hips. Her health stims. I pulled one off her belt and jabbed it into her leg like she had done me, and I watched as her health raised to 74%. Not a lot, but better. Her faceplate stayed stationary, unmoving from its position in covering her features. There was no use in checking for her breath or a pulse, I could see by the gray bar by her head that she was alive.

I breathed in, satisfied for now, and rocked back into a sitting position, pulling on my bandana to calm myself down. "Fucking hell… the shit you put me through in…" I looked at my watch. "Not even 2 damned hours…"

I allowed myself an absent minded laugh as I sat, guarding her prone body. There was nothing I could do as of right now, the game would decide when she was to wake up. My eyes roamed down to my bandolier, where so many of my little virtual keepsakes hung. I smiled lightly as I spotted a familiar little claw that had dropped off an area boss. And the first bullet casing that I'd ever fired.

Huh, funny.

Throughout this entire ordeal, I had never stopped to pick out a worthy souvenir. Strange for me, though it could be expected given some people's interference… But whatever. I had a while before she woke up, might as well find something. I glanced around the rooftop for something of note, worth, or general oddity. The only thing I found was the empty syringe that I had used on Tao. I thought about it for a moment before leaning forward to pick it up, slipping it into my coat's deepest and most secure pocket.

A rock tumbled from inside the main stairwell and my M9 and a grenade were in my hands before I noticed my own movement. After nothing happened, they returned to their places.

I'd better go set traps in case Mr. Red Eyes decides to drop by. Would be stupid if I didn't prepare at all.

I stood and stretched my back out, bending backwards and twisting this way and that. I felt a large pop and sighed, moving towards the stairwell. I opened my coat and looked at the HE's I had left, all of them. I considered making a Siamese Jericho trap with those, easy kill, easy setup. I was pulling one from its loop when Tao crossed my mind once more. I internally groaned and let the grenade slip back into place. I looked at the flashes and smokes, non lethal, only one momentarily debilitating. Nowhere near what I needed. I drifted to the other side and eyed over my gas grenades. No explosion, constant debilitation and damage, simple enough to set up. Perfect.

I jogged halfway down the stairs before unlatching a grenade and weighing it in my hand. I tossed it back and forth subconsciously as I planned the trap out. I had a bit of wire for this exact reason, so I would just need to tie one end to the pin and the other to a construct and string it across. The problem we had now was that this concrete staircase had no railing, so nothing to latch onto.

Perfect, now it was time to get creative.

I removed my knife from its sheath and slammed it into the concrete, it stuck halfway in before I stood and brought my boot down on top. Thank every divine thing out there that I had decided to craft this one myself. One of those cheap ass knives they tried to pawn off to people wouldn't be able to do this stuff. I plucked a piece of fishing wire from my utilities pouch, stringing it across the gap. I set the primers to "Pull Only" and wrapped the string around the action points.

I carefully stepped over the newly placed tripwire and gazed at it for a moment. Call it vanity. Or coincidence. Or both. But I had never used one of my chem grenades like this before. I pondered for a moment, scouring my mind for a worthy title for this… Well, whatever the fuck I was making. My eyes dropped to the canisters themselves, the bright orange bands and ashen grey cans giving it a distinct appearance. The…Rattlesnake. No, too bland.

The Mustard Bomb. No, too stupid.

The… Asinine Scorpion. Wait, the fuck does asinine mean?

The Taormentor.

Fuck.

The hell.

Yes.

It was only fair, she was the only reason the idea had come about. I mean, who was I not to give the girl her fair share of the credit? No one, that's who. I tore a length of camo netting out of my utilities pouch and set it on top of the grey canister. The optic mesh faded into its surroundings, making it look like an ordinary rock. I stood and started making my way back up top when I heard a cry from Tao.

"Jaegis!"

I bolted up the stairs and crashed out onto the rooftop, stopping to find an alarming sight.


End file.
